100 Br J. B. Pearson, On Sympathetic Needles. [May 0, 



moters of the Royal Society : weak as his philosophical instinct 

 undoubtedly is on this special point, he pi-oves that the theory 

 of these needles must have been familiar to the educated men of 

 that period. His opinion is cited at length in Notes and Queries, 

 2nd Ser. Vol. IV. S92 : Browne's experiment and opinion being 

 given at p. 266 of the same volume. 



Half a century later, when Addison introduces the subject in 

 the Spectator, it will be noticed that he refers to Strada's writings 

 in a way which evidently implies that they were known to his 

 contemporaries. We may however also suppose that the word 

 chimerical which he uses fairly represents the general opinion on 

 the subject: though I have some doubts whether Johnson, when 

 he wrote his life of Browne (1756), could have known of the 

 passage in the Spectator, or Strada's writings, from the way lie 

 speaks of him as owing his knowledge of the theory about the 

 needles to a <c flying rumour.'' 



A very fair English metrical version of Strada's lines is given 

 in Notes and Queries, 1st Ser. Vol. vi 204;, taken from a publica- 

 tion called The Student : or the Oxford and Cambridge Miscellany, 

 published in 1750. The passage from Addison had been given at 

 p. 93 of the same volume : published in 1852. As the electric 

 telegraph at that time had just come into general use, we may be 

 glad to see that our literati were not behind-hand in looking up 

 the history, if it may be called so, of the subject. 



I may mention that in a magazine, called the Scots Magazine, 

 of the date of 1753, N. & Q. 1st Ser. ix. 274 (not 1653, as erro- 

 neously given, N. & Q. Vol. VIII. 364), we find the opinion that a 

 method of communication by electricity of a somewhat similar 

 kind was practicable : but there is no direct reference to Strada or 

 those who avowedly borrowed from him. 



We can see from the authorities already cited that the notion 

 of "sympathetic needles" as they may be generally called, cannot 

 be traced farther than Famianus Strada, a literary character, who 

 was born in 1572 : was admitted as a Jesuit at Rome, where he 

 generally lived; and died in 1649. If any one will look through 

 the list of his writings, it will be seen at once that there is no 

 reason to think that the verses I have printed were anything 

 else than a literary exercise ; and though he was probably a 

 historian of merit, there is nothing at all to indicate that he was 

 in any way given to natural philosophy of any kind. As however 

 he fictitiously assigns the description of his magnetic needles to so 

 well known a personage as Pietro Bembo, the secretary of Pope 

 Leo X., it seems not unreasonable to think that there may have 

 been a tradition at Rome that Bembo practised or was acquainted 

 with some device of the kind. His pursuits unquestionably were 

 literary rather than scientific : but he was a collector of coins and 



